Everything as Code: IT without manual work

Code is no longer just for developers. Increasingly, it's being used to describe and manage every aspect of IT - from infrastructure to processes, from pipelines to procedures. Everything that used to be done manually is now codified. This is called Everything as Code, an approach that makes IT smarter, more scalable, and more secure.

At Harborn, we see Everything as Code as a strategic principle that makes IT predictable, scalable, and secure. And it goes beyond just infrastructure or software development. We treat configurations, processes, and policies as code, ensuring everything is reproducible, manageable, and automated.

This isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. IT complexity is growing, and manual management makes it nearly impossible to keep things consistent, efficient, and secure. By defining everything in code, we can maintain full control over IT environments, regardless of scale or sector. In this blog, you’ll read how we apply Everything as Code and why it’s a game changer for IT organizations.

The three pillars of everything as code

Everything as Code goes beyond writing software. At Harborn, we apply it across three key pillars: infrastructure, platform, and application.

• Infrastructure as Code: The foundation: servers, networks, and cloud resources are managed as code.
• Platform as Code: Platform configuration, user configurations, and processes as code.
• Application as Code: Application architecture, pipelines, and key elements such as FinOps and security policies.

Beyond the traditional “software development as code,” we show how these components significantly impact speed, reliability, and scalability in IT organizations.

Setting up a cloud environment manually may sound manageable until you have to do it ten times. Or a hundred. Or if one typo brings down your production environment. The error-prone nature of manual work is amplified when multiple people are involved, making it unclear who changed what, when, or why. Manual configuration of servers, networks, and storage often leads to mistakes, inconsistencies, and long lead times.

At Harborn, we do things differently: we fully automate infrastructure with Infrastructure as Code (IaC). This gives us control over complex cloud environments and makes IT faster, safer, and more efficient. We build our cloud environments with Terraform, using our own modules and modular blueprints. Instead of writing isolated scripts, we develop standardized components reusable across multiple projects. Examples include:

• Network modules: Private cloud environments, network configurations, and security fully codified.
• Server & storage modules: Preconfigured servers, databases, and storage in a consistent structure.
• Hosting environment blueprints: Complete hosting environments are defined and documented for consistency and standardized workloads.

This approach allows us to deploy new environments easily, without starting from scratch. It also enables code and infrastructure reviews, implementing the four-eyes principle. Thanks to the modular structure, customers can switch cloud providers or reuse infrastructure components without added complexity.

What does this deliver for an IT organization?

• Speed & efficiency: IT teams can roll out new environments quickly and in a controlled way. Manual actions are eliminated, saving time and reducing human error.
• Consistency: Test, acceptance, and production environments are set up identically, avoiding unexpected differences and "it only works on my machine" issues.
• Flexibility & scalability: Whether scaling within one cloud provider or moving to a multi-cloud strategy, you can scale without added complexity.

At Harborn, we build infrastructure as if it's a product: reusable, scalable, and future-proof. Our clients never have to start from scratch again—they build on a solid, reliable foundation.

How does this work in practice?

Bol.com manages over 1,000 microservices in a complex cloud environment. To keep it manageable, they use Infrastructure as Code with custom scripts, including for automatic deployment of security tools like Aqua Security. This approach enables lightning-fast system deployments with full version control and audit trails. Their use of IaC proves that even one of the Netherlands’ largest online retailers successfully leverages modularity, automation, and reusable infrastructure.

Aqua Security – Bol.com Case Study

IT is about more than just servers and code—it’s also about managing the surrounding systems. Think about setting access rights in GitHub, enabling reliable app builds, or ensuring error logging is always active. Manually configuring these platforms can lead to inconsistency, risk, and inefficiency.

At Harborn, we solve this with Platform as Code. We automate platform configurations and access settings, apply version control, and keep everything consistent, traceable, and scalable. With Platform as Code, we configure platforms like GitHub and Jenkins entirely through code, offering several organizational benefits:

• GitHub as Code: All settings for repositories, teams, and permissions are managed in code, ensuring consistent access and source code security.
• Jenkins Configuration as Code (JCasC): We manage Jenkins configurations entirely via code, from system settings to plugin configurations, uniform and reusable.
• Process automation: An essential part of Platform as Code is automating IT processes. For example, error logging is automatically configured to ensure issues always reach the right teams and never go unnoticed.

This lets us respond quickly to changes without manual intervention. New app versions are automatically tested and deployed through pre-defined pipelines, and user roles and permissions are managed without added overhead.

What does this deliver for an IT organization?

• Efficiency and consistency: Automating platform configurations and processes ensures standardized workflows that are repeatable and scalable.
• Better governance and compliance: Everything is documented and version-controlled, making audits easier and changes easily traceable.
• Faster deployment: Managing platform configs as code enables faster rollout and scaling of new environments and apps, shortening lead times and adapting swiftly to business changes.

At Harborn, we see Platform as Code not just as a management method, but as a key enabler for process automation and greater overall efficiency. By treating even backend processes as code, our clients respond faster than competitors - strengthening their position and making our work more enjoyable and impactful.

How does this work in practice?

Spotify developed Backstage to give developers more autonomy. Using Platform as Code, teams can generate services, set up pipelines, and configure monitoring with standardized templates. Under the hood, configuration files are stored and deployed via GitHub.

This not only speeds up onboarding and reduces errors, but also enforces consistent standards across development teams. As a leading music streaming provider, Spotify proves Platform as Code is vital for scalable developer productivity.

Platform engineering with Spotify's Backstage – CodiLime

Application as Code empowers organizations to manage applications efficiently and at scale. At Harborn, we use it not only to speed up development and deployment but also to ensure consistency and control across everything we build.

Automating application architecture, development pipelines, and key elements like financial governance and security policies allows us to respond quickly to evolving requirements from clients and developers alike. Here’s how we apply this approach:

• Development pipelines as code: We fully manage our pipelines as code, automating deployment and testing processes. This ensures faster, higher-quality releases with minimal manual intervention.
• Application architecture as code: We design standardized application architectures that are quickly reusable across projects, ensuring consistency, better team collaboration, and faster delivery.
• Compliance as Code: This enables us to automatically verify that applications meet key rules and standards (e.g., security or financial guidelines). We keep software up to date and secure by automating compliance checks and updates. This ensures faster, error-free compliance.

What does this deliver for an IT organization?

• Faster development: Managing applications, architectures, and pipelines as code allows for quicker, error-free releases, shortening time-to-market.
• Consistency and reusability: Standardized processes enhance collaboration between teams and make architectures and pipelines easy to reuse.
• Cost savings and risk management: Compliance as Code enables quick adaptation to new regulations and security standards, reducing costs and minimizing errors.

At Harborn, we view Application as Code as the key to managing applications efficiently and consistently. By treating everything as code—from architecture to pipelines and compliance—we can adapt faster and guarantee solution quality. Application as Code lets us build with confidence. Less manual work, less risk, more speed.

How does this work in practice?

Philips uses Application as Code in the development of medical software. They automate API testing within their CI/CD pipelines, reducing testing time by 70%. By managing everything—tests to compliance checks—as code, they release faster while meeting strict medical standards.

This example shows how Application as Code not only boosts development speed but also ensures compliance in highly regulated sectors. Philips Healthcare Case Study – NashTech

At Harborn, we believe in the power of Everything as Code. It’s not a buzzword, it’s a way of working that gives you control over the complexity of your IT landscape. Whether you're scaling up or just trying to get more from your current environment, Harborn builds IT that doesn’t get in its own way.

This helps us reduce costs, improve quality, and respond flexibly to change so we can better serve our clients.